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Draining the Swamp

President-elect Donald Trump built much of his campaign on some key promises. Of course, the first was tackling immigration. The second, was reviving the economy. But one that truly stood out was tackling the corruption in DC, or as he likes to say “draining the swamp.”

And now, Trump will head to the White House in January. His first 100 days will be the execution of these promises. Moreover, he has a Republican House and Republican Senate behind him. If he truly wants to clean up the overspending in Washington, now would be the time. On of the major themes for this election was anti-establishment. Many voters felt the power was held in the government hand, with spending out of control and government workers reaping the benefits from tax-payers’ dollars.

So what can we expect to happen in order to “drain the swamp”? First, it will be Trump’s famous catch line, “You’re fired.” Congressman Chaffetz told the Washington Post, “It’s nearly impossible to fire somebody.” We can expect a reform to be passed that will open up the possibility to fire federal employees in an easier way. Shaft, who is the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said he wants to also make changes to federal workers’ retirement benefits.

While saying you are going to decrease the size of the government, this is harder in reality. Democrats, employee employee unions, and others will do everything they can to eliminate this possibility. But there are many areas of reform that Trump can address immediately. Such as the fact that an employee who is under investigation can continue to cash their paychecks and receive benefits until a verdict is reached.

Trump said he will freeze hiring while he addresses the areas that need the most change first. Any sort of this type of reform that the Congress passed during the Obama years was blocked by President Obama. But now, there will be a green light. And decreasing the size of the government, including federal jobs, will be the first priority. And if these federal employees do leave the administration, they cannot get a job as a lobbyist for five years. In a video released by Trump, that ban will be put in through executive action on day one.